The mayor fired Moore last week after she received seven reprimands, all handed over to her in a single day. The firing triggered an outpouring of support for the police chief among the town’s roughly 1,410 residents as council members moved to take action against the mayor and reinstate Moore as chief. One city council member came forward with an audio recording of a phone call with the mayor, where Bullard is apparently heard making homophobic remarks.

Bullard maintains Moore was fired over several reprimands, including questioning the authority of a supervisor; failure to report problems in other departments to a supervisor; and contacting news media to “help bring about disorder and disruption to the town of Latta.” The reprimands were the first Moore received in her 23 years of service in the department.